ORANGE PARK – A volunteer group of county leaders is using forums to see what residents think what College Drive should look like in the future.

The first of at least three of the focus drives took place last Thursday, Aug. 19, at the Thrasher-Horne Center on College Drive, with the second happening two days later at Mercy Support Services.

Former Orange Park Mayor Connie Thomas wants local residents to participate in the next Zoom call. Thomas said anyone interested in attending virtually should send an email of interest to collegedriveinitiative@gmail.com. Future dates and forums have yet to be determined but will be posted soon.

“It’s important that this just stays a discussion because that’s all it is right now at the end of the day,” Thomas said to a crowd of about 30 at Thrasher-Horne. “We’re having a discussion to talk about our hopes and dreams of college drive and our concerns of college drive because we want things to be especially awesome for our residents. This is a unique moment.”

Each participant was able to freely select where they sat. The group of about 30 naturally split up into equally-sized groups of three. About a third of the participants were College Drive residents and each of the three groups had its own share of College Drive residents. The two-hour event was simple in concept: each group was given the same talk about future College Drive projections.

Many said how efficient and friendly the discussion stayed, despite people disagreeing on certain points.

“I enjoy how freely we were able to speak,” one participant said. “It wasn’t like [public government meetings] where a microphone is shoved in your face for three minutes and that’s all you get. It felt like everyone here was truly listening to each other and I really appreciated that.”

Each forum began with the groups talking broadly about what they liked and didn’t like about College Drive. One prevailing concern was the traffic. The majority of people agreed that most drivers, of which about 20,000 cars use the road each day, ignore the posted speed limit of 45 mph. They also agreed that some additional traffic lights could be installed, especially around school zones to increase the safety surrounding children dropped off on College Drive. School buses don’t enter neighborhoods and drop children off on the roadway.

As far as future wants, many commented how they would like to see more restaurants and businesses to make College Drive more of a destination instead of a passthrough between State Road 21 and Blanding Boulevard.

After the broader discussion period, each group was presented with three possible College Drive “Approaches.” The first was “improve traffic safety and transportation.” Most touched on points already previously discussed such as better policing to keep drivers going the speed limit, additional traffic lights to help traffic flow smoother and school zones to increase the safety around students dropped off on the road.

Many agreed that public transportation for College Drive’s many non-profit resources and buildings would be great, but some emphasized that a commitment to public transportation as a whole would need to occur in Clay County for this to be a success. Virtually everyone agreed that the Old Jennings Road intersection could use improvements.

The second approach was “living and work collaboratively value – human care.” This approach focused on increasing the non-profit organizations and their collaboration on College Drive, which is already home to places like The Way Medical Clinic, Pace Center for Girls the Veterans Affairs office and St. Johns River State College. Many liked the idea, but fear a tent city of homelessness could occur, although leaders said they would ensure that wouldn’t happen.

Bob Olson, who is on the board of Mercy Support Services, said that Mercy and the other support organizations in Clay County focus on building people up so that they wouldn’t need to live in a homeless camp. Another aspect of this approach was to create a College Drive Master Plan or establish a College Drive Neighborhood Association. Many residents already pay homeowner’s association fees so an additional association wasn’t too attractive.

The main takeaway from the second approach was collaboration and communication. Everyone agreed the College Drive residents should have a heavy hand in the future of the area. They suggested intense canvassing prior to any project approvals to gain resident opinions as well as social network connectivity and homeowner’s association communication to help get the word out.

“We’re the ones living here so I think it’s important we have a say,” one resident said.

The final approach was perhaps the most popular: “create a destination for thriving businesses and the cultural arts value.” The approach is about turning College Drive into a destination within Clay County. Many suggested that College Drive do something like Green Cove Springs’ Food Truck Fridays. In fact, the thing most agreed on .

Many participants also said they’d love to see more “mom and pop” restaurants establish themselves. They said it’s hard to convince a great restaurant to make College Drive their home and suggested that the county provide some kind of incentive program to keep restaurants for a of years. More restaurants would build up the cultural values of the area. Perhaps a craft brewery makes College Drive their home and public transportation can shuttle someone from a restaurant to the brewery and a concert or show at the Thrasher-Horne.

Each of the three groups shared their overall thoughts on each approach and their main three takeaways from the process. The main three takeaways were communication and collaboration, be it between businesses or between residents, additional things to do to make College Drive a destination and a strong focus on improving the traffic flow and traffic safety of the area.

Thomas said the first two meetings were a great success and that she’s excited about what’s to come. The College Drive initiative hopes to hold more of these events to gather additional information about what residents think. She encouraged anyone interested to follow the College Drive Initiative Facebook page to learn more about it and when upcoming forums will be held.